New Year, Same You
Why do we feel so much pressure to change at the dawn of a new year? Time moves forward and seasons transform because that’s how nature intended, but is the same to be said for our personal evolution or growth? While that may be true during our adolescence, time and hormones raging us on into our final forms; does time change our habits, routines, and opinions drastically as we move through our adult years? Or do we make adjustments to our internal selves and everyday lives driven by external forces, lest we remain inert? These are the light-hearted thoughts that have been punctuating my bingeing of Selling Sunset during this holiday break.
If you were to go by the calendar year and the seemingly unstoppable momentum of social media, then January can hit you like a ton of bricks with the density of a dying star. Gym memberships sky-rocket, resolutions to eat healthier and lose weight, stop smoking/drinking, reach career goals, etc.; while these intentions aren’t BAD, I wonder how many of these commitments feel forced upon us by the influence of the new year? It’s in our (Western) culture to overly indulge in December, but achingly deny in January just because commercialism and the calendar tell us to. It’s like getting woken up from a nap and being told to sprint a mile uphill. That sounds terrible and practically impossible, like you’re getting set up to fail. Nope. No thanks.
Now, if you were to observe the year from the perspective of, say, an almanac, which takes into account seasonal rhythms, astronomical and astrological findings and predictions, among a slew of other interesting facts, you’d discover so much of the natural world (at least in the northern hemisphere) is settling into the beginning of winter, a time for rest. Animals hibernate and migrate and plants go dormant. Snow blankets and quiets the landscape and reduces mobility. Daylight becomes scare. Nature slows. The winter solstice happens in late December and as solstice literally means “to stand still”, I wonder if that’s also what nature intends for us to do during this season? Sounds way better than forced productivity, IMO.
Humans seem to be the exception to the natural rhythm of the seasons in recent history and technology has only made the rift grow more vast. Don’t get me wrong, I love technology. I’m a Millennial, afterall. I grew up with the burgeoning rise of the internet. But, what if we also slowed down a bit during the winter season and reflected instead of allowing corporations and influencers to tell us what we should be doing and how we’re doing it wrong? Maybe we’d feel a little more accepting and understanding of who we are and more mentally prepared to reset our intentions when we realize we’d like to make adjustments in our lives. (And, as always, if you’re ready to make some changes, I can help with that.)
While we all have to learn how to live in the world in its current state of globalization, unstable economies, jobs as identities, etc., we should also heed the cadence of the natural world and try to strike a balance between the two. Try to take a break when you can. And in the immortal words of Depeche Mode… enjoy the silence.